SPB-2 1978 Season              Status:Season starts Jan 2027r

Future Draft and roster changes

Want to let you know that I am planning to make some changes to the way to structure and run our Rookie Drafts for the (2) leagues that I am commissioner of in an effort to simplify drafting and make it so that ALL owners are able to participate in making their selections, and not just those of us who don't have something happening on a weekend or Saturday morning that forces us to send in a list.

So, effective for the 1979 Draft next season, and also our upcoming 1967 Draft in SPB-60, the following changes will be implemented.

The Rookie Draft will be conducted exclusively via email (likely timed draft, so that you ALWAYS will know when your pick will be each day) over the course of about a weeks time (Mon-Sat) 5-6 Days. (Note, we are exploring the creating of a draft tool that might not rely on email that would be created using AI, so we'd reserve the right to possibly use this in lieu of email in the future if it works).

The Rookie Draft will be a 5 Round Draft and no longer a 7 round draft (So 6th and 7th Round picks can't not and should not be traded)

Roster protection will be increased to 30 players each season (from the current 28). You may protect less than 30 if you like, or have more draft choices than 5. Increasing this number should allow greater flexibility to owners to try to cover most of their positional needs prior to the draft.

The maximum of 35 carded players will remain with unlimited uncarded players. (most everyone seems to bail from the draft or auto draft after Round 5 anyways, and making these 2 slots protected slots instead of drafts rounds will give owner far better control of their needs, rather than waiting until the draft.)

Teams will no longer be allowed to exceed 35 man rosters during the draft. Once your roster hits 35 players, you will no longer be able to use any remaining draft choices you might have (you can however trade them prior to draft day).

Once the draft begins, the draft order will be locked in, and ALL teams will pick via email until all rosters are at 35 players. Current use of lose rule remain in place, with any batter or pitcher with 100 PA or BF needing to hit 50% on the usage meter, or you will lose them at the end of the season.

The chatroom used by the league is something we actually pay for as a league ($5 a month), and its become very difficult with getting kicked out all of the time. Also, I just don't like so many owners being forced to miss one of the biggest league events of the year. It's also far easier to manage the draft like this, and it will give owner far more time to analyze the study their selections.

Certainly, we reserve the right to conduct a live draft should we ever have our big get togethers like we used to back prior to covid, but I believe this will be much easier to manage like this.